Project Bunkhouse (Digital Realty Data Center Campus)

Timeline from the record

Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.

1. June 4, 2025

   Permitted
   Sole Commissioner Steve Taylor approved rezoning case Z-25-00020 (applicant Taurus DC SPE LLC), 876.57 acres from A-1 to Business Park Development and the land-use map from Agricultural to Industrial, with conditions. Source: Bartow County Commissioner's Office
2. March 31, 2025

   Proposed
   Bartow County submitted Development of Regional Impact #4433 ("Project Bunkhouse") to the Georgia DCA; determined to warrant regional review 2025-04-01. Source: Georgia Department of Community Affairs

Opposition and litigation at this site

Partly. Both documented support and documented opposition to Project Bunkhouse (Digital Realty Data Center Campus) in Stilesboro, Bartow County, Georgia appear in the record, with no clear majority position. Residents opposed the project at both public hearings.

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: mixed reception means documented support and documented opposition both exist with no clear majority position on record.

Residents opposed the project at both public hearings. At the May 19, 2025 planning commission hearing, Valerie Holt, Amy Tilley and Lauren Van Winkle spoke against it (rural character, Taff Road traffic), and Joe Harris spoke in support of the landowners' right to sell; the commission still recommended approval unanimously (Daily Tribune). At the June 4, 2025 hearing, Patty Everett spoke in opposition, citing the loss of pasture and property values, and Gail Cochran asked whether Georgia Power would take her property for new transmission lines; the minutes record no other speakers. The sole commissioner approved the rezoning the same day. No petition, lawsuit or appeal specific to this project has been found.

Source: Bartow County Commissioner's Office

Power and water

Utility is from the HIFLD retail service-territory layer, not a project statement. At the rezoning hearing the applicant's attorney said the site is adjacent to Plant Bowen and high-voltage transmission lines, and that "all the power will come off the existing lines and into the substation at the corner of Brandon Farm Road and Taff Road" (county minutes). No Georgia Power or Georgia PSC filing naming the project was found. The 1,830 MW figure is from a site plan reported by the AJC, not a utility filing.

DRI #4433 estimates 0.625 MGD water supply demand and 0.625 MGD sewage flow, served by the Bartow County Water Department. The same filing states that "Bartow County has confirmed capacity for 0.25 MGD for water and wastewater service. At this time, no discussion has been had with Bartow County about capacity over 0.25 MGD." It also lists about 1 mile of water line extension and about 3.5 miles of 6-inch force main to the Brown Farm pump station. Cooling method has not been disclosed; a rezoning condition requires water-efficient HVAC technology, and use of public water for equipment or building cooling is subject to Water Department approval.

Notes on the record

Applicant of record is Taurus DC SPE LLC (Bartow County rezoning case Z-25-00020); no source reviewed names a parent company for that entity. Operator: Bartow County's August 2026 policy statement refers to the campus as "Digital Realty's investment in the Stilesboro area". The county's minutes of the June 4, 2025 hearing, summarizing the presentation by the applicant's attorney, Scott Peters, record: "This is a Digital Realty project. It is not a Crypto center.", and Andrew Alves of Digital Realty appeared as part of the Project Bunkhouse team at the May 19, 2025 planning commission hearing (Daily Tribune). Digital Realty has not announced the project in its own press releases. Property owner per the DRI filing: Gaines Family Land LLC; the DRI's developer field names Brian B. West of Kimley-Horn (engineering consultant). Site: Taff Road south of GA Hwy 113, south of Georgia Power's Plant Bowen, also bordering Floyd Creek Church Road; tax parcels 0032-1184-001, 0032-1122-001, 0032a-003-002 and 0032b-003-006; Raccoon Creek runs along the property. Coordinates are the point stated in the DRI filing, not a surveyed site centroid. Size: the DRI filing states 8,675,000 sq ft; the approved rezoning caps total building area at 8,300,000 sq ft. Capacity: Bartow County's August 2026 data-center policy statement says "Digital Realty's investment in the Stilesboro area, planned for approximately 1.3 gigawatts of computing capacity, has indicated a total build-out capital investment on the order of eighteen billion dollars," and that Digital Realty "forecasts total employment in excess of 800 jobs once the campus is complete"; the 1.3 GW is recorded as planned capacity. Earlier, a site plan obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (April 2025) put the project's power needs at 1,830 MW with three on-site substations; the DRI filing's energy-demand field is blank. The same county statement says Bartow County has granted no tax abatements, PILOT or comparable arrangement to these data center facilities. Value: the DRI filing states an estimated build-out value of $19 billion and projected annual property tax of at least $40-50 million, with build-out estimated for 2035. Incentives: the DRI filing said the project was "in the process of incentive negotiations" with the Bartow-Cartersville Joint Development Authority; the county's economic development director, Melinda Lemmon, said that was "mistakenly included in the DRI filing" and that the authority "is not negotiating incentives with the data center calling themselves Project Bunkhouse or any other data center" (Daily Tribune, April 2, 2025). No bond validation, PILOT or abatement for the project has been found. Rezoning conditions include: an 8,300,000 sq ft cap; buffers required before occupancy; primary access from Taff Road only; distribution, manufacturing, warehousing, outdoor storage, towers, laboratories and retail prohibited; water-efficient HVAC required. Other DRI figures: about 8,588 average daily vehicle trips, about 29% impervious surface, wetlands, floodplain and historic resources present on site (impacts not expected per the filing). No building permits or site work have been reported since the rezoning.

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

• Oakley Real Estate Partners Brown Farm Road Data Center · Cartersville · Oakley Real Estate Partners3 mi · Proposed · Opposed
• Atlas Development Stiles Road Data Center (Euharlee Road) · Cartersville · Atlas Development LLC3 mi · Cancelled · Opposed
• Switch KEEP 2.0 Atlanta North Campus · Cartersville · Switch7 mi · Under construction · Mixed reception
• DataBank Project Indo · Cartersville · DataBank8 mi · Proposed · 200 MW
• Kingston Technology Hub (Thor Equities) · Kingston · Thor Equities10 mi · Proposed · 150 MW
• Project Springbank (Atlas Development Bartow County Campus) · Adairsville · Atlas Development LLC15 mi · Cancelled · 432 MW · Opposed
• Coosa Data Center (Project Gracie) · Rome · Atlas Development LLC18 mi · Permitted · Opposed
• Project Sassy (Atlas Development Rome Campus) · Rome · Atlas Development LLC18 mi · Proposed

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